If you are a candidate statewide office or legislature, we invite you to answer our 2016 Candidate Questionaire regarding campaign finance policy positions. Please email Melissa Price Kromm at melissa@ncvce.org to receive a direct link to our candidate survey. 

Our friends at Common Cause North Carolina launched a potentially landmark lawsuit in federal court today directly challenging the foundation of partisan gerrymandering in North Carolina. From Common Cause North Carolina:  Filed in the Middle District Court in Greensboro, the challenge in Common Cause v. Rucho could be a watershed moment in the fight against gerrymandering.… Continue reading Common Cause NC challenges Partisan Gerrymandering

Federal appellate judges on Friday struck down North Carolina’s restrictive omnibus voting law in a sweeping victory for voting rights, holding that it was “passed with racially discriminatory intent.”declaring in an unsparing opinion that the restrictions “target African Americans with almost surgical precision.”  The ruling focused on the five parts of the Monster Law challenged by numerous… Continue reading Federal Appeals Court Strikes Down NC Voting Restrictions

Why does it matter that lawyers are spending big on a N.C. Supreme Court race? Because research suggests a connection between attorneys’ contributions to judicial candidates and case outcomes. This is one of the many reasons why we support judicial public financing.  According to a Facing South analysis of state elections data, lawyers and judges have contributed… Continue reading Lawyers pour money into N.C. Supreme Court race, raising conflict-of-interest concerns

The US News and World Report has an article about Hillary Clinton’s support of a 28th amendment and why it matters. Here’s a link: http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2016-07-22/clinton-could-bring-constitutional-change-to-overturn-citizens-united

New American Constitutional Society study for the first time isolates partisanship in judges’ decisions in election cases. Some findings; 1) Partisan Justice means judges tend to favor their own party in election cases; 2) Need for campaign money drives judges’ partisan behavior in election cases; and 3) When judges no longer need campaign money, they stop exhibiting… Continue reading Partisan Justice Report

Great article from WRAL on the initiative McCain and Moyers helped Morgan start led to the establishment of non-partisan appellate court elections and a system of public financing of judicial elections that became a national model.